New York City announced plans to hire a new leader for what it dubbed its “rat pack” to keep the city’s ongoing rodent problem “in check and on notice.”
The city posted a job listing titled “Director of Rodent Mitigation” on Wednesday, saying that the desired candidate must have experience in urban planning, project management, operations, policy and government. Additional preferences include candidates with a “swashbuckling attitude, crafty humor, and general aura of badassery.”
“The Citywide Director of Rodent Mitigation is a high-visibility, high-impact leadership role with one of the most important tasks in city government – keeping the city’s rats in check and on notice,” the jobs description reads. “Despite their successful public engagement strategy and cheeky social media presence, rats are not our friends – they are enemies that must be vanquished by the combined forces of our city government.”
The new city official will report to the city’s deputy mayor of operations Meera Joshi and will make between a yearly salary of $120,000-$170,000.
“Rats will hate this job posting. But 8.8 million New Yorkers and your city government stand ready to work with you to reduce the rat population, increase cleanliness, and prevent pestilence,” the job posting continued.
The latest job listing comes as NYC officials have launched a series of initiatives to address the issue of rodents in the city. The city’s department of sanitation collaborated with a local clothing company to make and sell t-shirts, priced at $48, that promote the sanitation efforts.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) signed legislation last month referred to as the “Rat Action Plan.” The four-piece legislation will create “rat mitigation zones to build on successful mitigation efforts,” reduce the time city trash sits on the streets, and reduce rodent infestation in construction sites and larger buildings.
“There’s NOTHING I hate more than rats,” Adams wrote in a tweet, sharing a Gothamist story on the city’s new high-profile job. “If you have the drive, determination, and killer instinct needed to fight New York City’s relentless rat population — then your dream job awaits.”
